The Cocoa Bean Cupcake Cafe

Probably the worst cupcake I’ve had in a long time. The cupcake didn’t really have much flavor (but was moist), the icing also was super sugary and not much flavor (but there was tons). The redeeming factor was the sparkly chocolate chips on top weren’t crappy American chocolates. Their hot chocolate was freakin amazing, way better than star bucks, or really any place I’ve been.

These cupcakes were definitely good but not my favorite. I like my cupcakes pretty complex in flavor and these were more simple. Overall I don’t have an specific complaints, but unless I’m right next to this one I probably would go somewhere else for my cupcakes.

BEST CUPCAKES OF MY LIFE!!! I will drive for hours to get these cupcakes, none compare! I have tried dozens in Utah and NONE come close!
I had gestational diabetes with my first pregnancy which was horrible but what was torture was that I walked past here every BYU Football game and got a tear in my eye wanting just 1 cupcake! So I started saving up my carbs for one lol!
I get these for special occasions and everyone absolutely LOVES THEM! You can get a full size assortment or a mini cupcake assortment. Geese I’m craving one now just thinking about it!

The staff in here is so friendly and they have great products! I love that they are open late because it’s one of the very few places you can go get a late night treat!

easily one of the best sugar cookies I’ve had in my LIFE!!! I got the regular vanilla almond frosted sugar cookie, it was big enough to share and SO delicious! There is also a Samoan sugar cookie that I’m sure I’ll be trying next time, along with some great looking cupcakes! Fun and relaxed atmosphere and staff, I love it!

Okay, the cupcakes are awesome. Everyone gets that. And also the best sugar cookie I’ve ever had. What’s unfortunate about this place is that they are VERY in-​your-​face about how Mormon they are (delivery to MTC and Mormon mishies get 15% off), and as if that wasn’t enough, they have an espresso machine that they use only to steam milk for hot chocolate, and serve nothing with coffee in it. I’m already cursed enough to have to live in this extremely religious area, but all I want is a place to sit down for a couple hours a day to work on my computer and drink some coffee when Starbucks is packed to the door.
Bottom line is, if I’m ever in a dire need for a world-​class cupcake, I might find myself stopping in some day. However, because of their dogmatic approach, I would otherwise be a daily patron spending $ 2 – 10 each visit. But that’s what happens when people try to run their business like a club house.

I don’t know what happened here but I’m honestly really disappointed. I think they must have changed their recipes and unfortunately it’s for the worse. My main gripe with cupcake places is that the icing is too sugary sweet, in the past Cocoa Bean hasn’t fallen into this trap but my most recent trip has killed my love of this place. Sure cupcakes should be sweet but not so much that you can’t even finish a single cupcake. And the cake pops are legitimately awful, I literally gagged. It’s so unfortunate.

Sweet drinks and dry cupcakes. That was my last experience at the cocoa bean. Perhaps I was just sugared out, but the frappé I got was unbearably sweet. I got the Zebra and my wife got the salted caramel. It was nice in hers to have the salt to cut the sweetness a bit.
The cupcake was supposed to have caramel under the the frosting. I’m guessing the cupcakes sat out all day because by the time I got mine at 8:30pm, the caramel had soaked into the cupcake, making it soggy. It was so little that it made it look like the frosting was moist and had seeped into the cupcake. The cake itself was nowhere near moist.
On the bright side, they are very friendly when large groups come in. Whenever my wife and I travel down to Utah for a weekend we have our friends meet us at the cocoa bean and they always accommodate!

I’m shocked at the bad reviews. These are the best cupcakes I’ve ever had! I’m from the northeast and have had cupcakes in most big cities and haven’t liked them as much as these. Also a huge fan of the drinks (my favorite is the Irish carmanilla frappé) and the cake pops. Someone posted they thought they were undercooked but I couldn’t love them more. I love insanely moist cupcakes/​cake pops so I think they’re perfect.

I have to disclaim that I am not a fan of cupcake stores in general so my actual enjoyment of this place probably hovers at a 1.5. I mean, I hate thick frosting. Especially pseudo-​buttercream diabetes-​inducing colored frosting that tastes like pure sugar, but without any flavor. That said, it would be unfair of me to rate this place that low because they didn’t force me to show up.
So… For people who like the super-​light cake mix texture of commercial cupcakes with the sprinkles and the thick coat of frosting, this place is probably fine. The service is good, the cupcakes are very pretty (all fluffy and decorated) and they have a solid variety of flavors. That said, they don’t taste homemade or really all that flavorful. I had the «better than anything» cupcake and it was virtually indistinguishable from a plain chocolate cupcake.
These are generally pretty innocuous. They aren’t terrible, but they aren’t great. You can bring them as a gift and the bearer will likely coo over the presentation and eat the whole thing, but they won’t be wowed by it. That said, this café used to be really good as far as cupcake places go. Perhaps I’ll go again to see if they remember to add actual flavoring to their batter and frosting. Oh. And they’ll let you sit and talk uninterrupted, so they get extra stars for that.

I bought the raspberry chocolate cheesecake and the grasshopper cupcake as well as the raspberry lemon cake pop. The cupcakes were alright nothing special to them, slightly better than grocery store cupcakes. The cake pop on the other hand was by far the most disgusting cake pop I have ever had in my life, it was soggy and it tasted like the exact opposite of what it was labeled «raspberry lemonade». I even passed it around to my friends and all of them hated it or spit it out into a napkin because it was not even worth digesting. The place is roomy so you don’t have to worry about space, but there is no free water avaliable so if you happen to start choking on your cupcake you are shit out of luck.
Overall I probably wouldn’t visit this place again unless I had a good friend (like a really really good friend) who was begging me to go.

If there’s one pet peeve I have about Utah Valley, it’s their ridiculous and stupid obsession with mediocre cupcake shops. I mean… I get it, cupcakes are one of the best parts of life. BUT COME ON??? Love yourself and eat a real, delicious cupcake that isn’t shoddily made with 50 cups of sugar.
The Cocoa Bean reminds me of every other cupcake shop/“café” I’ve ever been to in the valley. (btw, I feel weird calling it a café if they only have milkshakes and hot chocolate, with no coffee or tea in sight) The cupcakes are INSANELY sweet, to the point of overbearing. I ordered the Samoa cupcake. The frosting was disgustingly sweet and I felt exhausted after eating it. I also ordered a Lemon Raspberry cake pop and I’m not 100% sure it was actual cake. It was undercooked, I’m sure, and I forgot it was supposed to be lemon flavored because it was so overbearingly vanilla sweet. My friend ordered one and could not even finish it.
I wish I could love it here, because I love cupcakes. But I love myself more and will find a cupcake that doesn’t send me into a sugar coma and a cake pop made with regularly baked cake.

Cheesecake brownie cupcakes are perfect. I’m obsessed. Every time I’ve gone there has been a sufficient amount and variety of cupcakes. There are different cupcakes every day so you need to check the menu before hand!

Nothing super special with it, it’s just cupcakes. I think they are little over priced. It’s probably good for a hangout place to just chitchat and seat and eat one cupcake for a couple of hours. It’s a place for teenagers dating or want to just chill.

I respect this place because it is taking serious advantage of the huge Provo dating scene and making a huge profit from it. Cupcakes are not my first choice when it comes to dessert because they can be so easily messed up and taste just off. the Cupcake café makes a phenomenal cupcake for what it is. They also offer gourmet hot chocolate of all different flavors which is also a nice incentive to give this place a try. I respect the great concept and it’s a good post dinner date choice. For just over $ 10, you get two cupcakes and two small cups of hot chocolate. Out of the cupcake choices in the area, this is probably my go to choice for that very rare occasion I want to buy a pretty overpriced cupcake. It tastes delicious thats for sure.

Excellent artisan hot chocolates, steamies, and cupcakes. I had an Artisan Mexican Hot Chocolate and a Moroccan Vanilla cupcake. The hot chocolate was hot, and an awesome blend of cooa, cinnamon, and vanilla. Also, the cupcake was wonderful. There are a lot of artsy cupcake places in Utah County, but this one was worth 2.50. They were moist, even at the end of the day, instead of the dry leftovers you’ll find at Sweet Tooth Fairy, etc. I will be back.

This is a cute cupcake place for a nice dessert after dinner.
I think their pricing is very reasonable especially if you do the deals.
We got the 1 cupcake + 1 tall drink for a little over $ 5. We chose the Phat Monkey cupcake, but were a little disappointed that it tasted like very chocolate-​filled muffin instead of a cupcake. We later noticed that they had the most Phat Monkey left over around 7PM when we went (they make cupcakes everyday, so they must be not a best seller). However, their raspberry hot chocolate were on point. For a cold day, it was perfect to melt your body.

I thought swig had the best sugar cookie. Swigs cookie tastes like garbage after eating these sugar cookies. So dang good!!! Super soft with great tasting icing.
On top of that, the «better than whatever» cupcake should be called «better than everything» cupcake, because that’s what it is.

The cocoa bean has delicious cupcakes, they are moist and flavorful. They have a bunch of different flavors on different days. I love them, and I’m not a big cupcake fan, the luscious lemon raspberry is my favorite flavor.
They also have amazing hot cocoa and frappes. The frappes are out if this world! They have about twenty different flavors, my two favorite are the Zebra and the Strawberry and cream.
The restaurant has a fun laid back atmosphere and service is alright. I definitely recommend this place if you are craving something sweet.

The Cocoa Bean was my first experience with the cupcake craze, and my mind was blown with my maiden voyage to the bakery. Ginormous, moist cupcakes with luscious frosting AND flavorful filling? I found myself here multiple times a week. My favorites quickly became Red Velvet and Raspberry Chocolate Cheesecake, although whenever they had Pumpkin Chocolate Chip (one of their surprise flavors) I couldn’t help but stock up.
Occasionally I found that the cake wasn’t as moist as it could be, but the fantastic frostings always put me in a more-​than-​forgiving mood. They’re very sweet but not your average buttercream or ganache. Rather, each has its own rich flavor that set Cocoa Bean apart from the nearby Sweet Tooth Fairy.
When I was a regular here years ago, the cupcakes were huge. When I went back more recently for a visit, the cupcake size had shrunk (perhaps to lessen baking time and retain moisture?) but the prices and amount of frosting stayed the same, making the overall product a little less to die for.
It’s still a great dessert option in Provo, but if I still lived nearby I wouldn’t find myself here as often as happened when the cupcakes were bigger.